Amidst the predicaments the world is witnessing today within the economic, geopolitical and strategic fields – to name a few – the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as one of the most attractive investment destinations. This feat is largely due to the advantages provided by the UAE in the realms of stability and security alongside its extraordinary economic and financial potential.

Economic crises are growing and so too are their consequences. This has led to unprecedented stresses that burden the already vulnerable global economy. The growing risks in business and investment environments have sparked fear and caution among investors and business people across the world. Added to this is the expanded geopolitical crises that threatens the security and stability of a number of countries and regions of the world.

Under such circumstances, investors and business people alike seek investment destinations and business centers with the most stable and secure environments; which is extremely important as they require reassurance that their invested capital has promising opportunities for growth and development going into the future.

The UAE ranked 1st regionally and 16th globally among the most promising economies attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) between 2016–2018, according to the World Investment Report (WIR16) recently issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Notably, the UAE has managed to surpass a number of advanced international economies, including Norway—a country that for decades has been home to one of the most distinctive and stable economies in the world. This is evidence that the UAE economy has reached an unparalleled level of maturity and sophistication, and that the state’s developmental approach has actually enabled it to shift its economy to a new phase of performance. The UAE is now relatively immune to global economic slowdowns and crises, specifically related to global trade, to the slowdowns in investment and tourism slowdowns, and to the sharp drops in oil prices.

According to the WIR16, the investments received by the UAE in 2015 have remained above US$10 billion. This is an important achievement for the UAE economy—meeting the requirements and standards necessary to drive foreign investors to continue to funnel their investments into the country at the same high levels of past years.

FDI flows into the UAE economy in 2015 surpassed those received in 2014 by 11 percent. This represents in itself irrefutable evidence that year after year, the country’s economic environment is attracting foreign investment because it is a safe haven for their capital—especially considering the steep decline overall in the world investment climate.

By achieving growth in FDI flows into the country, the UAE is progressing at a steady pace towards reaching its goals—not only the goal of increasing the contribution of FDIs to GDP to 5 percent over the next five years, but also the goal of greater economic diversification and overall sustainable development.

The content herein does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ECSSR